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agnosticism

(Encyclopedia)agnosticism ăgnŏsˈtĭsĭzəm [key], form of skepticism that holds that the existence of God cannot be logically proved or disproved. Among prominent agnostics have been Auguste Comte, Herbert Spenc...

Durkheim, Émile

(Encyclopedia)Durkheim, Émile dûrkˈhīm, Fr. āmēlˈ dürkĕmˈ [key], 1858–1917, French sociologist. Along with Max Weber he is considered one of the chief founders of modern sociology. Educated in France an...

Dutch Wars

(Encyclopedia)Dutch Wars, series of conflicts between the English and Dutch during the mid to late 17th cent. The wars had their roots in the Anglo-Dutch commercial rivalry, although the last of the three wars was ...

Gravier, Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Gravier, Jacques zhäk grävyāˈ [key], 1651–1708, French Jesuit missionary to the tribes of the Illinois region. He went to Canada in 1685. He was sent west to the St. Ignace mission at Mackinac i...

Friedlaender, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Friedlaender, Walter frēdˈlĕndər [key], 1873–1966, American art historian, b. Germany. Friedlaender pursued a distinguished academic career in Germany until 1934 and afterward taught at New York...

Bazard, Saint-Amand

(Encyclopedia)Bazard, Saint-Amand săNtämäNˈ bäzärˈ [key], 1791–1832, French socialist. He founded (1818) a republican society, Les Amis de la vérité [Friends of Truth], and was a member of the Carbonari....

Ducasse, Isidore

(Encyclopedia)Ducasse, Isidore ēzēdôrˈ dükäsˈ [key], 1846–70, French poet who wrote under the name Comte de Lautréamont, or simply Lautréamont. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, he moved to Paris in 1867, whe...

Lespinasse, Julie Jeanne Éléonore de

(Encyclopedia)Lespinasse, Julie Jeanne Éléonore de zhülēˈ zhän ālāōnôrˈ də lĕspēnäsˈ [key], 1732–76, French woman of letters. She aided (1754–64) Mme Du Deffand in her salon and organized (1764)...

Louvre

(Encyclopedia)Louvre lo͞oˈvrə [key], foremost French museum of art, located in Paris. The building was a royal fortress and palace built by Philip II in the late 12th cent. In 1546 Pierre Lescot was commissioned...

Canadian literature, French

(Encyclopedia)Canadian literature, French, the body of literature of the French-speaking population of Canada. Except for the narratives of French explorers (such as Samuel de Champlain and Pierre Esprit Radisson) ...